Rat Academy 1 and 2

Except in the frozen Arctic and Antarctic regions of the world, rats live everywhere on this planet EXCEPT in one Canadian province.

Yes, that's right. ALBERTA. We are the largest inhabited area on earth without rats.

For 75 years, the Alberta government has funded an extremely aggressive rat control program. Rats are highly destructive of any agricultural sector, consuming and contaminating stored grains and feed, gnawing tunnels and holes in buildings and equipment, and transmitting diseases via fleas and contamination. Even a small rat infestation can cost millions to the economy.

Alberta's official Rat Patrol Team monitors the province and eradicates rats before they can get established and reproduce. There are government hotlines for people to report any rat sightings. It is illegal in Alberta to own any kind of pet rat. Only frozen dead rats can be sold by pet stores as food for snakes. Scientific institutions, medical research facilities, and zoos are allowed to keep caged and monitored rats for authorized purposes.

So what's a poor rat gotta do to survive here? That question is answered by an excellent, laugh-out-loud theatre play which friends and I saw in April entitled Rat Academy.

Fingers, a curmudgeonly, mangey street rat, is the only rat still loose in Alberta. Or so he thinks. One day in a back alley in Edmonton, he discovers Shrimp, a happy-go-lucky, naive white lab rat who has just escaped captivity. Fingers creates his own Rat Academy to train Shrimp in survival skills -- how to sniff out food and humans, how to run, hide and fight, and how to avoid traps. In so doing, Fingers also trains the audience and reluctantly relies on their incompetent human assistance to street-proof Shrimp. The play is a crazy mix of scripted lines (including a Shakespearean soliloquy delivered by Shrimp), sassy improv, audience participation, and slapstick.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! 

Just a couple of days ago, we attended its zany sequel -- Rat Academy 2: Gnaw and Order! 

Fingers and Shrimp receive an Eviction Notice from the Province of Alberta to vacate their Edmonton alley home! Our heroes scheme to separate their alley from Alberta and make it their own country! But political infighting between the two rats scuppers that plan. Then things get worse! They receive an Evisceration Notice from the Rat Patrol Team! So what can they do except turn themselves into Lawyer Rats and go to court? Alas, they learn some Hard Lessons About Justice. This play ends on a cliffhanger, with the cop cars and sirens of the Rat Patrol closing in on Fingers and Shrimp.

Will there be a Rat Academy 3? Time alone will tell.

Vertex Quartet, Excentrica Women's Chamber Chorus, Doug Berner Trio

Last weekend was all about music! I attended three concerts by Edmonton musicians.

Vertex Quartet

On Friday night, this local women's string quartet played a wonderful program of works by Beethoven, Clara Schumann and Robert Schumann. Special guests Bethel Balge from Minnesota accompanied the Quartet on grand piano and Ian Liu played a Bach cello suite.

Excentrica Women's Chamber Chorus

On Saturday, I attended Excentrica's Spring Concert specifically to hear them perform Pergolesi's baroque masterwork Stabat Mater, a particular favourite of mine. They also performed several delightful madrigals and a fun jazz version of the Bach Cantata Wachet Auf (Sleepers, Awake).

Doug Berner Trio

And finally, Sunday afternoon was spent relaxing at the Jazz and Reflections concert series listening to the Doug Berner Trio's smooth jazz stylings. The perfect way to cap off my musical weekend!

Early Music, Contemporary Art, Turkish Sofra, and Revolutionists

Early Music Concert

I'm a fan of "Early Music," the collective term for medieval, renaissance and early baroque music. Last weekend, I attended a wonderful concert by Ayreheart Early Music Band, which consists of two lute players, a percussionist, and a singer (alas, no recorders!) They performed an excellent program of British Renaissance music, including not only expected classics by John Dowland and William Byrd, but also traditional folk songs of that era from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. A couple of pieces featured lyrics by Henry VIII and Shakespeare. There were even a few outstanding modern lute pieces written by the group's leader, Ronn McFarlane.

Contemporary Art and Turkish Sofra

Also spent an enjoyable afternoon last weekend with the Rare One and her sister and niece who were visiting from Manitoba. We visited the Art Gallery of Alberta, saw some interesting contemporary art, and then went for delicious Turkish food at Sofra Restaurant. Look at Sofra's fabulous light fixtures!

The Revolutionists

With some theatre buddies, I attended a matinee performance earlier this week of The Revolutionists by American playwright Lauren Gunderson. Four badass women -- playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle -- lose their heads in an irreverent, women-powered comedy set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. "It’s a true story. Or total fiction. Or a play about a play. Or a raucous resurrection … that ends in a song and a scaffold." Good times!

Margaret Atwood, St David's Welsh Society Christmas Concert, and Paper Bag Snowflakes

Margaret Atwood

Venerated Canadian author Margaret Atwood was in Edmonton last weekend for a live interview event attended by a large audience, of which I was one. She was in fine form, witty, insightful, and trenchant. She had much to say about our Maple MAGA Alberta government's recent misguided (and ultimately retracted) attempt to ban The Handmaid's Tale from school libraries. Atwood also read from her just-published Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts about her time living in Edmonton in the early 1970s. The crowd adored her and hung on every word. And of course, I fangirled right along with everyone else!

St David's Welsh Society Christmas Concert

Last weekend I went as well to a Christmas concert at a local church. There was a small Welsh Male Choir singing various songs (a couple in Welsh) and an audience singalong of favourite carols. However, the real draw for me was a recorder and harp duo! They played a selection of Welsh traditional tunes, all of which were quite lovely. You know how much I enjoy well-played recorder music and how rare it is to hear a live performance!

Paper Bag Snowflakes

I also indulged in a bit of crafting this week and made two paper bag snowflakes. I just liked the look of them on the instructional website (found here), they didn't seem all that difficult to make, and I had a bunch of paper lunch bags kicking around in my cupboard, so what the hell, why not?

Here they are side by side on the loveseat. If I make some more next December, I'll buy smaller white paper bags at Michael's or somewhere so they will be easier to hang and display.

A Fierce Warrior, The Grey Cup, Rockabilly, and Non-Stop Foul Language

Went with friends to see an excellent new play by a local Edmonton playwright about the top Allied sniper in World War I, a First Nations man from Ontario named Francis Pegahmagabow. He came home after the war to fight another ongoing battle for indigenous rights in Canada. In those days, native people were confined to reservations, were not legally citizens, could not vote, had their lives controlled by paternalistic white bureaucrats, and their children forcibly removed to residential schools.

As a good Canadian, I watched the Grey Cup championship CFL game on TV. Alas, the heavily favoured Winnipeg Blue Bombers got their asses handed to them on a plate 41-24 by the underdog Toronto Argonauts.

Been enjoying Dwight Yoakam's new album of original songs, full of twang, drawl, heartache and sass. He may have scraggly grey hair now but his voice, sound and style are as accomplished as ever, if you like classic rockabilly country, which I do.

And at long last, Deadpool & Wolverine is streaming on Disney+ and I can report that it is THE. BEST. DEADPOOL. MOVIE. EVER! My favourite bit is the after-credits scene, a virtuoso rendition of non-stop foul language and vulgarity (*chef's kiss*). I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet by revealing who gives that Oscar-worthy performance, lol, but there seriously needs to be a statuette in his future. He was apparently very enthusiastic about committing the monologue to memory rather than just relying on cue cards as suggested.

P.S. I've just discovered that, OH, OF COURSE, that scene is posted on YouTube anyway, so if you really do want to watch it, simply click here.

The S Word, Goofy Wine Labels, and Female Gazes

The S Word

Edmonton awoke to its first snowfall this weekend. Here's a photo taken from my balcony. And so another six months of winter begins . . . . 

Goofy Wine Labels

Saw these labels on zero alcohol wine at my grocery store this week. They tickled my legal funny bone.

Female Gazes

Went to an interesting art exhibit of paintings by women of women.

These four were my favourites --

Vanessa Carrigall

Beneath the Sunlit Surface

Susan MacEachran

Invisible but not finished

Justina Smith

Natalia with Zinnias

Antonia Parker

Lady in gold

Moonflower Murders, Ukrainian Embroidery, and Mabon

Moonflower Murders

My sister got me hooked on last season's Magpie Murders on PBS, a very clever British series involving two completely different but related storylines with dual roles for all the actors. Now I'm watching the new season, Moonflower Murders, which has just started on PBS. It's equally good so far! Any other fans out there?

Ukrainian Embroidery

I've always loved this beautiful artistic expression of Ukrainian culture. This week I finally made it to a local exhibit on its last day to see some stunning vintage pieces (all handwork, of course). Here's the exhibit poster and a few photos I took of my faves --

Mabon

Yesterday evening, I attended a celebration of the Autumn Equinox (Mabon) at a local Unitarian Universalist church. The gathering's special guests were two indigenous elders who led us in some drumming and singing. I enjoyed the opportunity to use my hoop drum again!

Poetry Club, Eight Pieces of Brocade, and a Russian Mezzo-Soprano

One of the new seniors recreation groups which started up this week is a Poetry Club. Lately I've felt a hankering to try writing some poetry again, so I joined it. Five of us showed up and we had a marvelous time!

I also began a fun Qigong class which teaches the gentle and meditative stretching, strength and balance routine known as The Eight Pieces of Brocade. We covered the initial two exercise movements in the first class: "Two Hands Holding Up the Sky" and "Drawing the Bow to Shoot the Hawk." This cute little GIF shows the routine's eight movements in simplified form --

The album I've been listening to this week is the just-released debut by Aigul Akhmetshina, a 27-year-old Russian mezzo-soprano who made a big splash recently in Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Royal Opera House in London. She is at the start of a huge international career! Although born in Russia, Aigul plans to become a British citizen. 

Omega-3, Orville Peck, and Lost in Space

Cue The Excitement!

I braved Costco this week to buy a big honkin' bottle of fish oil pills. Yes, this is what "Retired Life" is like, folks!

Who's That Masked Man?

I've also been busy listening to Orville Peck's latest album of duets, Stampede. Here's his duet with Willie Nelson. I love the two-stepping lesbians in the video, especially the sexy butch with the Mayan nose. Rowrr!

News Story of the Week

I feel bad for those two NASA astronauts who were supposed to remain at the International Space Station for a short 8-day stay which, due to Boeing's faulty spacecraft transport, morphed first into an 80-day extension, and now will require a further 180-day stay until they can be brought home to Earth next year in a rival SpaceX vehicle.

Kung Pao Chicken, Rufus Wainwright, Zombie Gnome, and Unicorn Skull

This week I've been going out for some lovely meals with various friends. Here's a photo from Earls Restaurant of their delicious Kung Pao Chicken with 3 hot hunan peppers. I've been going to Earls for nearly 30 years now and I always order this same dish Every. Single. Time.

I love gay singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. I've been listening all week to this fabulous 2021 live album of his. It's an intimate and intense mix of eclectic songs written by various Canadian and European songwriters, as well as by himself. Four of the songs are sung in French, his childhood language from Quebec.

I also went to Canadian Tire this week to buy a new muffin tin and noticed that their Halloween merch is now on the shelves. My two faves were this Zombie Gnome and the Unicorn Skull.